Sheet dispensing package



Jan. 10, 1961 R. w. EBER'T ETAL SHEET DISPENSING PACKAGE Filed Feb. 6. 1958 United States Patent G 2,967,610 SHEET DISPENSING PACKAGE Robert W. Ebert and Harry J. Sheerin, Neenah, and

Philip A. Leekley, Appleton, Wis., assignors to Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 6, 1958, Ser. No. 713,604

1 Claim. (Cl. 20657) This invention relates to a dispensing package of laminar material, such as table napkins, wax paper sheets, and the like, and is particularly adapted to comprise an attractive package of folded paper table napkins which may be conveniently dispensed from the original container.

In common practice paper table napkins are shipped and sold in bulk containers from which they are removed to relatively complex and expensive metal dispensers for use at the meal table. By this invention the necessity of this transfer and of the metal dispenser is eliminated.

The particular objects and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the carton forming an integral part of this invention,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the elements of this package in an intermediate stage of manufacture, and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of this invention made ready for dispensing the contained material.

Referring first to Figure 1, it is seen that the carton blank forming a part of this invention includes a side flap 1, top wall 2, side wall 3, bottom wall 4 and glue flap 5, respectively joined together along adjacent edges by scored hinge lines 6, 7, 8 and 9. End flaps 10, 11, 12, and 13 are connected to the opposite end edges of flap 1 and walls 2, 3 and 4, respectively, along scored hinge lines 14, 15, 16, and 17. The carton blank may be of any suitable material, though paperboard is preferred.

A continuous line of weakness 20 extends the width of the blank of Figure 1, substantially bisecting walls 2, 3 and 4 and flaps 1 and 5. Other lines of weakness 21a and 21b are formed in wall 2, terminating at line 20, defining two removable panel portions 22a and 22b in top wall 2, one removable panel lying on each side of weakness line 20. Weakness lines 20, 21a and 21b preferably comprise perforations in the carton material, although such lines quite satisfactorily might be composed, at least in part, of score or cut-score lines, or combinations of score, cut-score and perforation lines.

Figure 2 shows the carton blank of Figure l edge glued and erected in shell form for the loading of two stacks 25a and 25b of laminar sheet material, such as folded table napkins. The carton shell has been formed by gluing or otherwise securing glue flap to side flap 1, which together form a side wall 26 opposite to side wall 3, and then erecting the side walls perpendicular to top wall 2 and bottom wall 4. The stacks 25a and 25b may be loaded into the carton from the remaining open ends. After the stacks are loaded into the carton, the ends are closed in conventional fashion, such as consecutively folding flaps and 12, 11 and 13, the flaps being adhered or otherwise fastened together to form end walls of the carton.

The package is readied for dispensing of the contained sheets by severing line of weakness 20 in walls 2, 3, 4 and 26, thus dividing the package into two halves, and removing panel portions 22a and 2211, as will be clear from Figure 3. This divides the package into two smaller, conveniently usable parts, with each part open so that an edge of each stack of sheets is exposed. Individual sheets may readily be grasped as the result of the access provided by removal of portions of front wall 2.

Patented Jan. 10, 1961 It will be obvious that severance of line 20 in bottom wall 4 need not take place, if desired, in which event there will result a single package conveniently providing access to the contents from either of two sides, with equal facility. For use in this latter fashion, weakness line 20 in bottom wall '4 might comprise a hinging score line rather than a weaker perforation line. It will be obvious that for separation of the two halves of the package as shown in Figure 3, it will be more convenient if line 20 comprises a continuous perforation line.

In order to eliminate the possibility of interleaving of the sheets of one of stacks 25a, 25b with sheets of the other stack, it is desirable that the stacks in unrestricted condition be of height substantially greater than the corresponding dimension of the carton, so that the stacks must be substantially compressed before they can be inserted in the carton. Particularly where the product is folded paper table napkins or the like, it has been found quite feasible thus to fit the stacks into the carton in such fashion that the tendency to interleave is completely inhibited, but without any interference with the dispensing action.

This invention has been found particularly useful in the case where the contained product comprises folded paper table napkins, and in the preferred form the stacks are positioned so that the folded edges 27a of the one stack of napkins are contiguous to the folded edges 27b of the other stack. The result will be a neater appearance when the package is opened, as in Figure 3, and a stronger, more convenient and more firm edge of the napkins to be grasped for dispensing.

Various modifications in the described embodiment, not involving departure from the spirit of the invention, will be obvious to those skilled in the art. For example, in certain applications, it may not be critical that weakness line 20 coincide for a substantial distance with the plane of the contiguous edges 27a, 27b of the two stacks, but only that there be at least two points of coincidence to provide exposure of portions of both stacks upon opening of the package. Accordingly, no limitations upon the invention are intended except as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

A dispensing package comprising a rectangular carton having front and back side walls and having disposed therein in juxtaposition two stacks of folded sheet material with the sheets thereof being in parallel relation with the side walls, the stacks being of substantially equal size and having noninterleaved abutting edges extending transversely of the carton at substantially the mid-section thereof, the stacks being maintained therein under substantial transverse compression, a continuous line of weakening extending through the carton walls to encircle the package in a plane co-extensive with the plane of abutment between said stacks to facilitate manual severance of the carton walls and separation of the package into two containers having both open and closed ends, each of said containers housing therein one of said stacks of material, with folded edges of the material in each stack being then exposed at the open end of each container, a side wall of each severable container being provided with continuous lines of fracture defining a substantially rectangular removable panel portion passing medially and diagonally across said first named line of weakness.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Guyer May 26, 1959 

